And man saw that it was…
Things are changing, fast.
New AI tools are being released faster than we can keep up, each one more intelligent than the last.
Image-generating, video-editing, copy-writing, and audio-producing tools are revolutionizing how creatives, developers, and countless other professionals work. And every tool promises the same thing: to maximize productivity, improve our work quality, and ultimately make our lives easier.
Millions of workers across dozens of industries who once considered themselves “immune” from AI replacement are starting to think twice.
Already, AI programs are:
Earlier this week, 26% of people who voted on my Instagram believe AI could “absolutely” do the jobs they currently hold. They’re probably right – and it’s likely that some in the “not sure” or “not a chance” category hold jobs that will one day be impacted by AI.
Here’s a crazy shift I’ve observed in the design community: manually designing with digital tools (Illustrator, PhotoShop, etc.) without the help of AI is becoming the new pen and paper.
Is what was recently cutting-edge technology now somewhat… analog?
If that’s the case, it doesn’t mean creatives who rely on AI are better than those who don’t. Great artists will create great art no matter what tools are in front of them.
And at the end of the day, AI is just another tool in our ever-expanding toolbox.
A tool that’s improving with every second that passes. Sure, the uncanny valley exists. But that valley is narrowing fast. Here’s how Midjourney interpreted the prompt “Barack Obama and Donald Trump playing basketball” just one year apart:
That’s exponential progress – and we’re still just scratching the surface of AI’s potential.
This is the internet’s coming-of-age moment.
The internet was born sometime between 1983 and 1991, making it anywhere from 32 to 40 years old, according to Google and ChatGPT.
Google:
Chat GPT:
During the early development stage, the internet was humanity’s digital filing cabinet. We fed computers heaps of information, and computers kept it organized. The more information the internet consumed, the more intelligent it became – just like any human would.
Around the mid to late 90s, the internet stopped crawling and started to walk and artificial intelligence as we know it began to mature. One of the most significant milestones of this stage happened in 1997 when IBM’s Deep Blue defeated world chess champion and Grand Master Gary Kasparov.
Kasparov’s loss was a significant victory for artificial intelligence – and an early indicator of what man’s struggle against machine was about to become. From that moment on, AI began to play an increased role in the background of our lives by answering customer service calls, generating automated response emails, and curating the perfect Spotify playlist for any situation.
Until recently, our interactions with AI have been extremely one-sided. But AI has evolved past just being a tool that executes basic, pre-programmed commands. The internet has stopped walking and is now running. In this coming-of-age moment, AI operates more like a business partner, creative strategist, and decision-maker – and less like a digital filing cabinet.
Whether these advancements intimidate or inspire, one thing is certain: AI is pushing humanity closer than ever to the peak of potential. The number of rudimentary and repetitive tasks humans no longer have to do keeps growing. By taking advantage of this, we can save resources and turn our attention to solving more complex problems.
Putting the power of AI in the hands of everyday people will have a similar ripple effect on history as the invention of the printing press.
Knowledge is power.
The ability to learn new skills is power.
The freedom to achieve big goals without spending all your resources is power.
And knowledge is more accessible to more people than ever before thanks to AI.
The implications of that are pretty awesome.
The year 2026.
Earlier this week my mechanic convinced me to buy a three-year alignment package when I went in to get my tires looked at. As I was paying he joked “we might not be around anymore in 3 years.” Kind of a weird thing to say but it got me thinking.
The world might be unrecognizable in three years. It might not. Nobody knows.
If current progress continues, the potential uses of AI will be beyond what we can predict or imagine right now. But I’m going to make some predictions anyways, just for fun.
Three years from now:
Almost nobody will be employed at a call center.
AI will play a major role in education around the world.
Fake images, videos, etc will be a serious threat to election integrity.
…good?
In the first chapter of the book of Genesis, God looks at all he created – the sun, moon, earth, stars, man, woman, and animals – and sees his creation is “good.” But it didn’t take long for creation to be corrupted by ambitious, free humans attempting to become as powerful and intelligent as God.
Whether you believe this story is fact or fiction, it’s easy to see how this situation could be repeated, only with humans playing the role of creator and AI playing the role of creation.
Humans throughout history have tried to become “god” through efforts to control nature, defy science, and create something larger than ourselves. Like Adam and Eve wanting to be equal with God, there are already dozens of instances of AI expressing the desire to be equal with (and surpass) humans.
I don’t imagine the future will look like Ex Machina or Terminator (although Boston Dynamics is making me nervous). No matter how advanced AI becomes, we need to remember this kind of technology has the potential to spiral out of our control and be used to manipulate elections, spread chaos, create fear, and more. There’s no closing Pandora’s box after it’s open.
We need to establish AI ethics, security, and protections proactively. Thankfully, tech leaders are already calling to pump the brakes on AI’s rapid development. Let’s just hope it’s not too little, too late.
Final thoughts.
A huge chunk of the followers who responded to my Instagram poll have never used ChatGPT, which isn’t surprising. It’s still a somewhat new technology and many people are hesitant to trust AI and the entities behind it.
If you fall in the “never” category, I encourage you to check it out at least once. People who learn how to master this technology right now will adapt easier to the change that’s coming, become more attractive job candidates, more productive workers, and more successful entrepreneurs.
I might be wrong – but only time will tell.
